Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts

Sunday, 29 November 2009

visions of heaven

more coffee table books again, (i think i'm going to need a bigger coffee table) and while i'm not a religious person in the slightest, i've always been fascinated by the architecture, symbolism and theory behind some of the church's greatest buildings. if ever you go travelling through europe, you will notice all these ancient tiny little villages and towns scattered over the countryside that all have these amazing cathedrals that dwarf any other structure around. and one can only imagine how many more of these would still be around had it not been for the destructive bombings of world war ii. in particular, i am mesmerised by gazing up at the domed/vaulted structure and defintion that adorns the ceilings of these ancient giants. and while i always attempted to capture for myself some of these brilliant visions, i never quite had the photographic skills required to depict what i was seeing in all its glory. the autistic in me is fascinated by the complex mathematical geometry and abstract pattern involved in the construction, the vast majority of which were built using the primitive technologies of years gone by.
which is where david stephenson's book"visions of heaven" comes in handy. tasmanian photographer stephenson has kindly taken the liberty of saving me a sore neck, snapping over 120 of the most amazing images you will ever see. check out more of his images here

Monday, 16 November 2009

"without light i am not only invisible, but formless as well"

in previous discussions of hero worship, i mentioned art that references other artists, or songs as a homage to other musicians. here is another great example of hero worship, this time art referencing literature -jeff wall's "after ralph ellison (the invisible man)" 2000
ralph ellison's timeless piece of black literature, from 1952, opens with the novel's anti-hero/protaganist/narrator falling down a manhole after fleeing tormentors during a new york riot, and deciding to take up a life underground, covering the ceiling of his subterannean home with 1,369 illegally connected light bulbs, spending his time listening to recordings of louis armstrong's "what did i do to be so black and blue".